Dominguez Once Again Dominating

It seemed like old times earlier this season when Compton Dominguez High applied its trademark brand of suffocating defense against Downey in a San Gabriel Valley League boys’ basketball game, turning a one-point halftime deficit into a runaway victory.

“Dominguez is so explosive,” Downey Coach Larry Shelton said. “They are capable of going on runs that just destroy you.”

Shelton recalled similar domination in the late 1990s, when every time his team played Dominguez he felt as if he were coaching the Washington Generals against the Harlem Globetrotters. Some of his players even sought autographs from the Dons, several of whom would go on to the NBA.

But much of the luster came off the Dominguez program after national polls ranked the Dons No. 1 at the end of the 1999-2000 season.

The biggest setback came in November 2000, when Coach Russell Otis was arrested on suspicion of sexually molesting one of his players. Otis was removed as coach, and although the Dons went on to win a third consecutive state title that season, things quickly unraveled thereafter.

Downey ended Dominguez’s 62-game league winning streak in January 2002, and the Dons later failed to extend their run of seven consecutive Southern Section titles. They finished 15-12, losing more games than they had in the three previous seasons combined.

Otis, acquitted of any wrongdoing in a criminal trial, reclaimed his old job before the 2002-03 season. But he found the cupboard so bereft of talent, he conducted open tryouts. Though the Dons made some progress, they lost to Redondo in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

This season, it appears few teams are capable of challenging Dominguez en route to an expected Division II-A championship matchup against regional power Santa Ana Mater Dei. The Dons, ranked No. 4 in the Southland by The Times, are 19-5 and 7-0 in league play after a 74-71 victory over No. 12 Lynwood on Wednesday at Lynwood.

“Obviously, we’re not considered one of the nation’s top teams ... but we’ve got kids that want to get better that are working hard,” Otis said. “That’s all you can ask.”

Dominguez trailed by seven points early in the fourth quarter before guard D.J. Wright made a three-point shot and followed with a three-point play to lead an 18-4 run that gave Dominguez control. The Knights had a chance to tie on their final possession but threw the ball out of bounds under pressure.

“Their defensive mind-set is definitely still there,” Lynwood Coach Michael Acheanpong said when asked to compare this season’s Dominguez team with some of the dominating ones from the past. “Player-wise, they may have lost some.”

And gained some.

Rival coaches say the most obvious sign that things are back to normal at Dominguez is the number of transfers: Five players, including the team’s top three scorers, came from other programs. Leading scorer Bryan Harvey and guard Marcus Malone transferred from Carson, where Harvey was an All-City guard last season. Forward A.J. Tolbert came from Bellflower St. John Bosco, and Wright checked in from Palos Verdes Estates Rolling Hills Prep. Forward LaMar Roberson, who scored a team-high 17 points against Lynwood, moved from Baton Rouge, La.

“I can tell you it is frustrating to the other teams in the league,” said Shelton, in his 16th year at Downey. “We play with neighborhood kids. But according to the CIF, they seem to be legal transfers.

“Dominguez is not the only school that is having a lot of transfers come in, so the rest of the schools in our league have learned to deal with it the best we can. It’s almost like playing against college basketball teams.”

Otis also points out that Malone, a guard who averages nine points, spent his freshman year at Dominguez before leaving for Carson.

“No one talks about that,” Otis said. “They always talk about kids that come here. But I don’t see the press talking about the kids that leave here that went to [Long Beach] Poly and [Compton] Centennial and elsewhere.”

Otis has become fiercely guarded with the media, which he feels has been quick to criticize him and reluctant to accentuate the positive. His view has some merit. Sports Illustrated ran a 6,500-word story in February 2001 that spelled out every allegation against him in lurid detail -- and followed up with one sentence about his acquittal.

Questions from a Times reporter earlier this week about Roberson’s background and whether Otis had obtained a valid teaching credential prompted the coach to cut the interview short, asking the reporter to leave the Dominguez gymnasium and refrain from talking to players.

It was Otis’ failure to obtain a permanent teaching credential that school district officials cited as the reason for firing the coach as he was facing the molestation lawsuit. Otis is now authorized to teach physical education and introductory health science, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing website. Otis said he teaches health, just as he did before his dismissal.

However, teaching basketball skills is what has won him widespread acclaim. Otis’ teams are known for defensive intensity and effort, characteristics that helped them earlier this season during victories over regionally ranked Long Beach Poly, Huntington Beach Ocean View and Concord De La Salle. Dominguez lost to Mater Dei by three points in December.

“All of our players are going to play defense, set picks and pass the ball,” Otis said. “They want to learn. They want to get better. That’s the biggest thing.

“But we’ve still got room to grow.”

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The Don of Dominguez

Southern Section and state championships won by the Dominguez High boys’ basketball team in Russell Otis’ 15 seasons as coach:

* 1988-89, 4-A section champion

* 1994-95, Division II-A section champion

* 1995-96, Division II-A section champion, Division II state champion

* 1996-97, Division II-A section champion, Division II state champion

* 1997-98, Division II-A section champion

* 1998-99, Division II-AA section champion, Division II state champion

* 1999-2000, Division II-AA section champion, Division II state champion